The Nina, the Pinta, and the Vanishing Treasure Booktalk

When the Christopher Columbus exhibit goes missing from the town museum, Alec is on the case!

Grades

3–5

The Mystery of the Stolen Artifacts. The Mystery of the Missing Teacher. It's a good thing Alec Flint, Super Sleuth, is there to solve them!

Alec Flint is a super sleuth, just like his father, Officer Flint. There's the robbery at the museum. The Christopher Columbus exhibit has been stolen — every coin, every scrap of sailcloth, every piece of wood-they'll all gone. It's up to Officer Flint to find out who took it and how to get it back. Alec is sure he'll be able to help solve the case.

Then there is the mystery at school. Ms. Blume, the art teacher, is missing. She's supposed to be getting ready for her wedding, but she doesn't seem to be around. Her mail and newspapers are piling up on her front porch. Ms. Levine is her sub, but she doesn't seem to have the keys to the closet with all the art supplies. Gina, a girl in Alec's class, is determined to figure out how the closet got locked over the weekend, when Ms. Blume is the only person with the key, and she's gone. The closet had been unlocked on Friday, because Ms. Levine let Gina's sister's class make macaroni art.

Alex and Gina agree to work together to solve the two mysteries. He has his detective notebook and special pen that can write upside down, she has a secret code for their detective messages. It's obvious that they can learn more together than apart, but will they actually be able to figure out what's going on at school and at the museum?